Turpentine gutter



Dec 31, 1935- c. A ToMPKlNs TURPENTINE GUTTER Filed Nov. 9, 1954 I Patented Dec. 31, 1935 UNITED STTES PATEN 3 Claims.

The object of this invention is to provide a turpentine gutter which will not be exposed t rust and corrosion but which will operate eiiiciently to direct the sap into a bucket placed to receiveit and which may be easily secured in place. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and consists in certain novel features which will be more particularly dened in the claims following a detail description.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is an end view of a turpentine gutter constructed according to the present invention and showing the same in position upon a tree.

Figure 2 is a similar view but showing the gutter secured in place in a slightly different manner.

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of the gutter.

The gutter is composed of a single piece of wood cut in a shallow V-form so as to present the downwardly converging faces I which will define a central longitudinal trough or gutter into which the sap will flow from the tree and by which it will be delivered into the receptacle placed under the lower end of the gutter. The under side of the gutter is also V-shaped but the walls 2 diverge from the upper faces, as clearly shown, so that the center of the body or block is appreciably thicker than the side edges of the same. In one of the under surfaces 2 there is formed a longitudinal groove 3 which extends from end to end of the gutter and may be engaged by the head of a securing nail, as shown in Figure 2. 'Ihe gutter has one side edge engaged in a narrow slit or cut formed in the side of the tree, as indicated at 4, and the sap will ooze through this cut onto the upper surface'of the gutter and then pass to the receptacle in the usual way. The tree is indicated at 5 and it will be understood, of course, that the gutter will be disposed in an inclined or oblique position against the side of the tree and engaged within the slit or cut. 'I'he gutter may, in some instances, be held frictionally within the slit or cut 4 but it is customary to provide a clamping device and I employ a nail having a head 6 which has a bent lip 1 on one side. The nail may have its lip 'l engaged over the outer edge of the gutter, as shown in Figure I, and the nail is then driven into the side of the tree so that the engagement between the nail head and the gutter will be secured and the gutter will rest upon and be supported by the shank of the nail. For various reasons, however, a shorter nail is frequently preferred and when the shorter nail is used it will be disposed, as shown in Figure 2. with the lip 1 engaged in the groove 3 of the gutter and the shank of the nail driven into the tree at substantially a right angle thereto. The nail, when driven home, will serve to clamp the gutter to the tree and will also effect a slight wedging engagement between the side edge of 5 the gutter and the walls of the slit in the tree.

Turpentine gutters are now generally formed of sheet metal which will soon corrode and produce rust when exposed to the weather and the rusted surface of the gutter detracts from the 10 quality and market value of the turpentine or other product. Moreover, the sheet metal gutters will be very easily bent so that they cannot be easily secured in place and, moreover, will not direct all of the extruding sap into the receptacle but will permit some of the sap to ilow over the outer edge of the gutter. My device is constructed of wood which may be of low grade, considered as lumber, so that it may be very cheaply produced and will not rust so as to lower the quality of the turpentine product. The peculiar shape of the gutter provides a narrow edge which may be engaged in the cut in the tree and also imparts gradually increasing thickness to the body of the gutter so that it will have the g5 needed strength to resist rough handling and possible knocks from passing objects. The provision of the groove in the underside of the gutter permits a short nail to be employed in firmly securing the gutter in place and leaves the outer edge of the gutter unobstructed so that if cleaning should be needed it can be very easily accomplished. The gutter from a wooden block will not become heated to the same extent that a sheet metal gutter is heated in hot weather and, consequently, the loss due to evaporation on account of heat in the gutter will be minimized.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A turpentine gutter consisting of a` block having converging upper faces to produce a shallow groove and having relatively thin side edges adapted to be inserted in a small cut in a side of a tree.

2. A turpentine gutter consisting oi a block of shallow V-shaped cross-sectional contour having thin side edges adapted to be engaged in a cut in a tree and gradually increasing in thickness from the edges tothe center.

3. A turpentine gutter consisting of a block of shallow V-shape cross section having relatively thin side edges and gradually increasing in thickness from the edges to the center and provided in its under side with a longitudinal groove to be engaged by a headed fastening device. 

